Legend of Legaia

"A fascinating RPG that falls just short of greatness"

I’m the type of guy who, when I hear a lot of hype and other talk from people I know about a game, I’ll actually avoid it for a good while. I guess it’s because I don’t want to go in it with any expectations except the ones I make for myself. So when I decided it was time for me to search for my first Playstation RPG, I decided to skip Final Fantasy 7 which everyone and their brother seemed to be playing, and went for a game I’d read about and liked what I had seen, Legend of Legaia, developed by Contrail and released by Sony. My first RPG since Final Fantasy 6 for the Super Nintendo, this game didn’t disappoint in giving me something other than what I was constantly hearing about. But I was left wanting something more at some times…

The story goes that man had used beings called Seru to build forth their civilization and make themselves more powerful. But one day, a terrible mist came through the world and turned the Seru against their human masters, until humanity was literally reduced to a few pockets of civilization still trying to keep on. You, as Vahn, start in one of these pockets, Rim Elm, notable only for a green, seemingly crystalline tree called a Genesis Tree. You’ve got a girl named Mei who’s sweet on you, and a family who has watched you grow up into what you are today. The proponents of the mist decide to invade your town today, breaking down the natural barricade that has kept it out. But then, the Genesis Tree calls out to you, and soon you find yourself gifted with a Ra-Seru, a special Seru that can absorb qualities of other Seru and is not influenced by the mist. After assembling all the people in the town, they revive the Genesis Tree and not only drive out the mist in Rim Elm, but the nearby area as well. And thus you begin your journey to eliminate the Mist…

Over the course of your journey, you’ll meet the usual assortment of kings, thieves, villains, maidens, craftsmen and other such RPG standards. Most prominent of these characters you meet are two who will actually join you. Noa is a spunky young girl who was raised in the wild, and attacks with her amazing agility. Gala is a Biron Monk, one of the finest of the order, who attacks with both his refined technique and considerable power. These two also gain Ra-Seru, with their own properties. The enemies in the game range from a powerful rival to Gala, to all manner of fanatics corrupted by the mist.

The game uses a system similar to most RPGs, where you give your characters commands, and they execute them based on how fast they are compared to the enemies. There are two things that set this games system apart from the norm, however. The first is the fighting system. You input commands based on right, left, up and down, and your characters will attack with a combination reflecting that. Input a particular combination attack, and your character will execute an Art, which is an extra powerful attack. Some you learn in combat or from other characters, some need to be learned by outside means, and others are hidden and require long commands. These arts require attack points from each individual character. You can build them up through simply attacking with normal attacks, or using the Spirit command, which will also increase the number of actions you can make the next turn.

The other truly unique aspect of the game is the spell system. Characters learn spells by defeating Seru in combat, but it’s not guaranteed. The spells become more powerful as they’re used more. Some only require a few castings to level up, some require several, and some will leave you wondering when they’ll become more powerful! These two additions are both nice touches to the game and help make it stand out from the crowd of RPGs on the Playstation. It’s through this combat system that the game gets some extra points for its control, because maneuvering and attacking in this game is pretty easy to do.

But my first caveat with the game lies in the main character, Vahn. There is very little in the way of individual personality expressed by him in the game. In fact, Gala and Noa usually do the talking in the game, and Vahn is reduced to one line responses that you choose. While this was just fine in the days of early Dragon Warrior, in an era filled with well-characterized lead RPG personalities like Terra, Vyse, Meis and more, and even with Vahn put next to two distinctive personalities as Noa and Gala, this lack of personality in Vahn makes the game seem a little less than it should. Even some of the minor characters have more characterization than Vahn! That’s not a very good sign when the bit players outshine your flagship character.

Secondly, this game seems kind of slow at times. You’ll sometimes feel like you’ve been walking on the world map for what feels like an eternity. Even though Vahn is animating like he’s running, he’s actually going slower than he usually walks in the towns and dungeons and such. If you’re patient, this isn’t much of a problem, though. And besides, RPG gamers need to know patience pretty well to get anywhere in their games, right? Right?

My other, not quite as large problem with the game are the graphics. In the battles, they’re just fine, with some imaginative designs for the Seru creatures, and Vahn, Noa and Gala all change their looks as they equip new armor. In towns, dungeons and other such areas, though, character graphics are kind of clunky. I will admit that they have to be in order for so many characters to be on-screen at once, and that at the distance you’ll be looking at them much of the time, they’re passable, but at the times you get up close, they look kind of ugly. I guess that’s the price we have to pay for the game being on only one disc.

Sound-wise, each creature type and the three heroes have their own voices recorded for the battle sequences. It’s a nice tough to hear them shouting, grunting and even saying the names of some of their attacks in “Engrish.” The other game effects are good in the battle, and what ones are in the non-fighting portions of the game are either fitting for their situations, or are simply unobtrusive. The soundtrack is mostly middle of the road, with a few standout tracks for some of the towns and dungeons.

I guess the best thing I can say about Legend of Legaia is that there aren’t that many games that approach combat like it, and for that it deserves at least a rental if you can find it at a place that still rents numerous PS1 games. Issues with its graphics, slow pace and Vahn’s apparent lack of a personality can be overcome by the strength of its combat system. It’s hardly perfect, but still worth a look if you can find it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/30/02, Updated 09/30/02